


Technicolor

by manoutoftimeandquake



Series: Dousy Week 2020 [7]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Compliant, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27766765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manoutoftimeandquake/pseuds/manoutoftimeandquake
Summary: At first, Daisy thought the most ironic part of all of this was that it was in the fifties, a decade she associated with the old black and white movies that Coulson loved so much, that she would see in colour for the first time. But as they were figuring out their next move, Daisy realised the universe truly did have a bad sense of humour and irony. Not only had she met her soulmate in the fifties, decades before her time, but she met him the day before he was meant to die. After years of living in a world of black and white, she had finally gotten to experience all the beautiful colours of the world around her, yet in just a few hours, she was going to lose those colours.Dousy Week Day 7: Free Day
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Series: Dousy Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006365
Comments: 5
Kudos: 60





	Technicolor

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I am writing another soulmate au, what about it? Also, this turned out to be way longer than I originally planned, like seven times longer.

Skye had managed to avoid the topic of soulmates with the team for months. She knew that Coulson and May were soulmates, as were Fitzsimmons, but she hadn’t met her soulmate. Whenever that particular conversation came up, she was quick to change the subject. But she knew that she couldn’t avoid it forever.

She was down in the lab on the bus, working on her laptop in the corner as Fitzsimmons bickered while they worked on something that Skye didn’t even pretend to understand.

“I don’t get why he gets to the choose the film every single time,” Fitz argued.

“Because he’s in charge,” Simmons replied.

“Are you guys talking about Coulson’s picks for movie night?” Skye asked. 

“What do you think about them?” Fitz asked.

Simmons let out an annoyed groan. “Stop complaining.”

“I just don’t get why he keeps picking all those films from the fifties,” Fitz complained.

“What’s wrong with them?” Skye asked.

“I just don’t get why he’d choose to watch that many black and white films, after spending all that time not being able to see colour, why would you want to go back to that?” Fitz demanded. He looked over at Skye. “Right?”

“I, erm… I never noticed,” Skye admitted. “I didn’t realise that they were in black and white.”

“How didn’t you notice?” Fitz asked.

Simmons elbowed him in the side. “She can’t see colour; she hasn’t met her soulmate yet.”

Fitz cringed slightly. “Sorry Skye, I didn’t think.”

“It’s fine,” Skye replied.

“Maybe you’ll meet your soulmate while you’re at SHIELD,” Simmons said with a smile.

Skye smiled back at her. “Maybe I will.”

***

Daisy pretended to be staring down at the files on Chief Sousa’s desk through the lenses of her fake glasses as she heard footsteps approach the door. She blinked a few times as the edges of her vision started to change, strange hues she’d never seen before in her life beginning to come into focus.

She heard the door open and the footsteps come to a sudden stop as the person who had just opened the door, presumably Chief Sousa, realised she was there.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded.

“Who I am is on a need to know basis,” Daisy replied without looking up from the files.

“I need to know,” he exclaimed.

“Ah, no, you don’t,” Daisy replied as she finally tore her eyes away from the pages in front of her. As soon as she looked up at Sousa, the strange hues that had been skirting around the edge of her vision burst into life, the world in front of her flooding with colour for the first time in her life. She faltered for a moment as the experience overwhelmed her. Sousa also seemed taken aback by the sudden change. The two stared at each other for a few moments before she continued talking. “Because I don’t exist, and we never met. Now, can you shut the door, please?”

After all this time, she had finally found her soulmate, but she right now she had Coulson and Simmons to worry about.

***

At first, Daisy thought the most ironic part of all of this was that it was in the fifties, a decade she associated with the old black and white movies that Coulson loved so much, that she would see in colour for the first time. But as they were figuring out their next move, Daisy realised the universe truly did have a bad sense of humour and irony. Not only had she met her soulmate in the fifties, decades before her time, but she met him the day before he was meant to die. After years of living in a world of black and white, she had finally gotten to experience all the beautiful colours of the world around her, yet in just a few hours, she was going to lose those colours.

***

“Hey,” Daisy said as she found Sousa as the team was getting ready to head out into the seventies. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. Coulson said you were taking it pretty well, all things considered.”

“After everything I saw with the SSR, I learned that sometimes the best thing to do is to just accept situations like this and try to move forward,” Sousa replied. “Can I ask you something? Something personal?”

“Sure,” Daisy said, shooting him a nervous smile.

“When we first met, what did you see?” Sousa asked. “Like, did you see in black and white or…”.

“I saw in colour for the first time,” Daisy confirmed. “And you?”

“The same, everything around me changed when I saw you at my desk,” he answered. “So I guess that means we’re soulmates.”

“I guess it does.”

“Is that why your team rescued me? Because they wanted to save their teammate’s soulmate?”

“Actually, they don’t know we’re soulmates, I didn’t tell anyone,” Daisy replied. “They rescued you because you’re a SHIELD legend, but also because you’re a good person. Even in the short amount of time they’ve known you they could see that. Of course they were going to save you.”

Sousa smiled at her. “So, what are the seventies like?”

***

The colours in Sousa’s world kept fading in and out of focus as he watched the Daisy through the cracks in the wall of the barn. He moved back from the wall and into a sitting position as the men dragged a half-conscious Daisy back into the room and dropped her onto the floor and began to redo her cuffs.

He glared at Nathaniel Malick as he walked into the room. “What did you do?” he demanded.

“Took as much blood and spinal fluid as I thought she could handle. A couple of glands,” Malick replied. “Now I got synthesize it all and transfuse it to me. Now, I know, it’s risky, but uh… I want to try new things.” He looked over to where Daisy was lying on the floor. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll switch from needles to knives.” He turned to leave the room, a cruel smirk on his face as he went.

Sousa didn’t even wait for them to leave before he made his way over to Daisy. “Daisy?”

“Jiaying,” she muttered. “It happened… it happened before.”

“Hey, stay with me,” he begged, one hand coming to rest lightly on her head. “What do you mean this happened before?”

“Jiaying,” Daisy repeated as she let out a gasp and attempted to pull herself up before crashing back down again. “I can’t… Jiaying.”

“Hey, hey, hey. You wanted to hear my story, right?” Sousa asked as he shifted his sitting position, so he was sat with his back against the wall and Daisy’s head resting on his lap. “Right, well, I think it was, uh, foggy. I can’t really remember the hit, but I came to, and my leg was a pulpy mess… and I was completely alone. And then Mike Stephens showed up. And the thing about Mike is he was a resolute ass.” He let out a slight laugh. “He would never shut up. He was always bullying the new guys, stole cigs. But that day, he just kept talking to me… carried back from the line.”

Daisy was beginning to lose consciousness completely on his lap and as she went, Sousa could see the world start to lose its colours.

“Hey. Hey. Wake up, okay? Stay awake, okay?” he said, shaking her a few times to try and wake her, in the hope that if she was able to remain conscious for long enough then it would give him time to find a way to escape or for the team to rescue them. He ended up slouched slightly to one side, Daisy’s head still in his lap. “For the next couple hours, he stayed with me. When the Germans advanced, when the cold got so bad I thought we would freeze, he just kept telling me ‘we are going home’. And then at some point, I was in a field stretcher, and, uh… Mike wasn’t.” He sat up again, leaning over Daisy as he stroked the hair back from her face. “So, consider my yapping as a way of passing on the favour. We are going home, Agent Johnson. You hear me? We’re going home. We’ve only just found each other, and I am not ready to lose my soulmate. We are getting back to the rest of the team and you are going to be okay. But you have got to fight.”

Daisy weakly lifted her hand up to him. Blood was oozing from a cut in her palm and Sousa looked closer he the light hitting a shard of glass sticking out of her palm. She winced in pain as Sousa was able to pull the shard of glass out from her palm.

“Plenty of fight left in you after all.”

***

Sousa was sat on a stool in the corner of the med lab watching on as Simmons checked the healing pod was working correctly. He was so focused on Daisy he didn’t hear Deke walk into the room until he spoke.”

“We’re about to jump,” the other man said before he walked away.

Simmons looked up from the tablet she was working on and over at Sousa. “Last chance if you…”

Sousa shook his head. “I’m where I need to be.”

***

“We just need to get the implant out,” Daisy said as she reached into the drawer.

“Wait,” Sousa said as he stopped Daisy from reaching into the drawer. “It’s a trap.”

“We don’t know that yet,” Daisy replied.

“No, we do,” Sousa said. “You said somebody obviously went through the drawer and _Simmons_ was supposed to get the scanner, right?”

“Yeah, until I told her I was gonna do it,” Daisy replied as the lights around them began to flicker.

“Every attempt so far has been on Simmons, she’s the one they’re trying to kill,” Sousa explained.

“Maybe, but we still need the scanner,” Daisy said.

“Right, but if I die I’ll just, you know, reset, no problem,” Sousa replied. “If you die, you lose your memories, and we have to waste all this time relearning everything. Time we don’t have.” He reached into the drawer and grabbed the scanner before Daisy could do anything about it. Nothing happened and Daisy let out a sigh of relief. “So… it’s fine.”

A small whirring sound filled the room and Daisy watched in horror as Sousa staggered backwards, letting out a pained wince as he hit the counter.

“Sousa?” Daisy asked nervously, the colours already beginning to drain away. She dropped down next to him as he slid down onto the floor, blood dripping from his mouth. “Hey, hey, hey, hey! Sousa!” Her hand came up to hold the back of his head as she looked on in horror as the colour fully left her world. “No, no, no, Daniel, you can’t leave me.”

The time drive started up, but Daisy didn’t hear anything, instead staring at Sousa in a desperate attempt to find any sign of colour left in her world.

***

When Daisy opened her eyes in the healing pod, she could see in full colour again. She hit the button to open the healing chamber and sat up, looking over to stare at where Sousa was sat asleep in the chair. She placed her feet gently as to not make any noise and disturb him. She paused before she left the room, taking in the brown of his hair and the blue of his shirt, just appreciating that for the moment she still had those colours in her life, before heading off to find Coulson.

***

The sound of Daisy’s feet hitting the floor woke Sousa up. “Hey, what are you doing up?”

“Uh, well, believe it or not, I am stuck in a time loop, and I’m running out of ways to save us all,” Daisy replied, her annoyance at the situation creeping into her tone.

“Okay, how can I help?” he asked.

“There’s no time. There’s…” She trailed off as she took in the confused look on Sousa’s face. “Actually, I can take a loop.” She grabbed a spare chair and pulled it up to sit opposite Sousa. “So, that wasn’t hard for you to swallow? The time loop?” Sousa didn’t respond immediately. “Nothing seems to faze you.”

“It all fazes me, just maybe not my face,” Sousa replied.

“Every time I ask you for help, you say yes. Even if I don’t ask, you’re waiting here to make sure I rest or whatever. Why?” Daisy asked. “Be honest.”

“Honest?” Daisy nodded. “I know your type.”

“My what now?”

“I know people like you, some of my favourite people are people like you,” he explained. He took in a deep breath before continuing. “Focused on the greater good, even at your own expense. You want people to think you like being alone, even though you always end up back with friends. You hate losing.”

“Everyone hates losing,” she interrupted.

“Yeah, but you’ll keep running at the problem full-tilt until you either solve it or slam headlong into a brick wall,” Sousa said.

“Some of those walls were literal,” Daisy admitted.

“I know.”

“But how does that…”

“Because when people like you run into those walls, you should have someone there to pick you back up,” Sousa explained.

Daisy leant back in her seat slightly. “And you, you like to be that someone?”

“Not for everyone,” he answered. He leant forward in his seat. “It helps if they’re fun to be around, and they say what they mean, and if they have that superpower where they can rock things around, which is very impressive.”

“That’s, um, that is awfully specific,” Daisy replied as she leant forward again, closing the space between them. “And does it help that they also happen to be your soulmate?”

“I’d like to think that we would’ve found each other anyway,” Sousa answered. “But it is nice to know that the universe and I are on the same page.” He smiled warmly at Daisy. “So, what’s this problem you’re trying to crack?”

***

_Next time, same thing, but faster._

The sound of Daisy’s feet hitting the floor woke Sousa up. “Hey, what are you doing up?”

“Uh, I need you to do something for me,” Daisy said.

“Of course,” Sousa replied as he stood up. “What do you need?”

Daisy paused for a moment as she stared at Sousa. Even after everything he had told her in the last time loop, she still hadn’t expected him to be that quick to help her. As she stared at him, she couldn’t help but focus on all the new colours in her world. But that was when she noticed something; when she looked at him, the colours became richer, more vibrant, and full of life. And it was also like they somehow made sense. She was hit by the sudden realisation of how much the man stood before her had done for her already in the few short days they had known each other, how good he had been for her since they met that day in his office. And she was so thankful for the universe for giving her a nudge in the right direction.

She took a couple of steps forward to close the space between them, her hands resting on the collar of his blue shirt as she tipped her head up to kiss him. She pulled back after only a few seconds and for the briefest of moments, she thought that maybe she had gone too far, had messed up whatever it was that the two of them had. But then Sousa was leaning back in to kiss her again, this kiss deeper than the last.

“That was nice,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper as she pulled apart again. “Now we need to trap a space robot.”

***

“Can I take that off your hands?” Sousa asked indicating to Daisy’s bag.

“Um, I got it, thanks,” Daisy replied.

“Just thought I’d put some weight on the new leg, is all,” Sousa explained.

“Okay,” Daisy said as she handed him her bag. “Thank you.” She smiled warmly at him as she watched him leave, but the look quickly dropped off her face when she saw how Simmons was looking at her. “What?”

“Say what you will about the fifties, at least he doesn’t know chivalry is dead,” Simmons replied.

“Okay, anyway…”.

“I wish you’d pulled a solution for this out of my head,” Simmons said with a sigh. “I need Fitz’s brain now… wherever it is.”

“So, you don’t remember _anything_ about where you guys were?” Daisy asked.

“No, that’s the point,” Simmons replied.

“What was the last thing that you… do remember?” Daisy questioned. “You were being hunted by Chronicoms, but did it ever get… violent?”

“Why are you asking? Did I say something when you removed the implant?”

“Not exactly.”

“Daisy, I don’t want to know,” Simmons replied. “I thought we agreed, no information was supposed to come out.”

“I don’t have any information,” Daisy insisted. “I… You couldn’t control yourself.

“No matter how confused I was, I can’t know-”

“You weren’t confused,” Daisy interrupted. “You were… you were devastated. I’ve never seen you so freaked. You were inconsolable. That’s why I asked.”

“Fitz is fine,” Simmons insisted. “I know he is because if he were I would only see black and white. But I can still see in colour… just like you can.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Daisy asked.

“I asked you to pass me the red box when we were getting ready to leave the Zephyr,” Simmons explained. “You passed me the right one without checking to see which one was red first.” She grinned at her friend. “So, when did this happen?”

“Don’t think I can’t tell that you’re just trying to change the subject.”

“When did this happen?”

“When Sousa walked into his office in ’55,” Daisy replied.

Simmons squealed in excitement. “Daniel Sousa is your soulmate!” she exclaimed.

Daisy shushed her friend. “Keep it down!”

“Sorry, it’s just Daniel Sousa, _the Daniel Sousa_ , SHIELD legend is your soulmate,” Simmons said. “That’s pretty cool.”

Mack’s voice sounded from the radio on the table next to them. “Johnson, Simmons, report to Control.”

“Don’t tell the others,” Daisy begged. “We just want to get through this mission alive and figure out whatever it is that we have before we go around telling everyone like ‘hey, guess who met their soulmate while time travelling?’, y’know?”

“I won’t tell, don’t worry,” Simmons promised. “We’d better go.”

***

“You guys are my family,” Daisy confessed, her voice breaking slightly. “I don’t know who I am without you guys.”

“Daisy…”

“No,” she interrupted. “It’s…”

“You know exactly who you are,” Mack replied. “With anyone.”

Daisy nodded slightly as she thought to herself before looking over at Sousa. He was still sat in the pilot’s seat in the cockpit of the quinjet, staring out at the stars in wonder.

Mack looked between the pair and let out a sigh. “Ugh, oof.”

“What?”

“Really. Subtle.”

“Stop,” Daisy hissed.

“Cool,” Mack teased, earning a laugh from Daisy.

“In the… in the time loops, we… we kind of kissed,” Daisy admitted. “Whatever, he’s a dork.”

“See, that’s messed up because he doesn’t remember that,” Mack replied.

“Then why are you smiling?” Daisy asked with a laugh.

“Because Yo-Yo owes me twenty dollars,” Mack answered. He looked up at Daisy again. “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

“Sousa is my soulmate,” Daisy explained.

“And you didn’t think to bring that up first?” Mack asked. “You brought up the kissing?”

“Soulmates aren’t necessarily romantic, they can be platonic,” Daisy replied.

“I have a feeling that it’s going to be romantic,” Mack said.

Daisy blushed as a grin spread across her face. “I hope so.” She bit the inside of her lip as she looked down. “It won’t be the same.”

“No, it won’t,” Mack replied. “But that’s okay.”

***

Sousa looked over at Daisy as she started to leave the room in search of Simmons and Deke. She was almost gone when he realised that he couldn’t just let her leave without saying something to her. “Daisy,” he called out as he began to make his way over to her.

“Yeah?” Daisy replied as she paused and turned to look at him just before she left the room.

Sousa put one hand on her waist and pulled her close to him as he leant in to kiss her. The kiss only lasted for a moment before he pulled back. Daisy had a dorky grin on her face when they pulled apart, one that Sousa didn’t doubt he was matching. Daisy leant back in and kissed him again.

“Didn’t know I was gonna do that,” he confessed.

“I’m glad you did,” Daisy replied. “Um… I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

The two broke away and went their separate ways, Daisy heading off into the Chronicom ship and Sousa heading back to Mack.

The pair worked in silence for a moment before Mack broke the silence. “Impressive.”

“Thank you,” Sousa replied.

“I meant what said on the quinjet,” Mack said.

“And so did I,” Sousa replied. “She’s… she’s amazing. I wouldn’t ever do anything to hurt her. She’s my soulmate.”

“I know,” Mack said. “Daisy told me on the quinjet. And like I said, I’m glad it’s you.”

***

“Why would you say that?” Daisy demanded as she and Sousa made their way back to the Zephyr. They were the last two to leave the Krazy Kanoe as they got ready to return to the original timeline. “Why would you volunteer to stay? We only just found each other, why would you want to leave?”

Sousa let out a sigh as he stopped and took her hands in his own, much like he had in the bar. “Daisy, you have to know that I didn’t want to do that, that it killed me to have to say that.”

“Then why do it?”

“Because in the moment it seemed like the right thing to do, it would get you back home,” Sousa explained. “And don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy I don’t have to stay behind without you, I’d do it again if it got you home.”

Daisy pulled him in closer to her and kissed him again. The kiss was longer and deeper than their last one and once they pulled apart Daisy leant her forehead against that. “Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“I won’t,” Sousa promised. “Now, I think we need to go. The rest of the team is waiting for us.”

Daisy nodded. “Let’s go save the world.”

***

“Don’t worry too much about Mack,” Sousa said.

“Don’t worry too much about Daisy,” Yo-Yo teased.

Simmons let out a gasp, everyone else in the room turning to look at her. She was looking between Sousa and Yo-Yo, a look of recognition spreading across her face. “They’re your everything. The stars in the skies, the colours in your world.” She turned to look at her husband. “Fitz, I think I remember why we did all this. I think I remember what we’re fighting for.”

Yo-Yo glanced over at Sousa. “Daisy’s your soulmate?” Sousa nodded. “Alright then.”

***

“There is no way to kill me without killing yourself,” Malick sneered as he held Daisy against the reactors of the Chronicom ship using her stolen powers, lifting up his hand as it glowed bright with energy.

Daisy looked down at the hand pressed against her chest and brought her hands up to grasp at Malick’s forearm before looking back up at him. “That’s the idea.” She barely had time to enjoy the shocked look on Malick’s face before she unleashed a powerful quake that threw Malick backwards and tore through the reactors, destroying the ship.

As the ship began to crumble around her and she was sucked into the vacuum of space, Daisy thought of the team. She hated having to leave her friends, the people that had become her family, but she knew what she was doing the right thing. She had to do this to save them all. And Sousa, her soulmate, the man who had just promised her that he wouldn’t leave her and now she was leaving him. As she floated through space, her body temperature dropping and her skin freezing over as she froze to death, one last thought crossed her mind.

_I’m sorry Daniel._

***

The shift from full colour to black and white was so sudden that the change caused Sousa to stumble and crash into a wall, slowly sliding down until he was sat on the floor. Yo-Yo excused herself from where she had been talking with the Chronicoms and was over by his side in less than a second. She knelt down next to him and placed one hand on his shoulder as he began to hyperventilate.

“Hey, hey, hey, Sousa, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I can’t see in colour anymore, everything’s in black and white again,” he answered. “Daisy… she’s… oh god.”

Yo-Yo looked horrified. “No, please no.”

Sousa sunk his head into his hands as he brought his knees up to his chest. Fat tears started rolling down his cheeks and his chest started heaving as he began to cry. “She’s can’t be gone, she just can’t be, but…. oh god, she’s gone, she’s dead.”

Yo-Yo reached out to wrap her arms around him to hug him close to her in an attempt to comfort him. “Sousa, I’m so sorry, I can’t imagine what you’re going through right now.”

“I only knew her for a matter of days, we didn’t get enough time,” he said, still crying heavily. He looked up at Yo-Yo, suddenly feeling guilty. “I’m sorry, you knew her much longer than I did, you all did. You shouldn’t have to be comforting me right now.”

Yo-Yo shook her head. “Daisy is, was, your soulmate, no one is expecting- hey!” Yo-Yo was cut off when Sousa suddenly grabbed her arm tightly. “What’s wrong?”

Sousa was looking past her to the computer screens at the control panel. “Those lights, the ones at the top of the screen, they’re changing between red, then blue and the green, right? Please tell me I’m right.”

Yo-Yo turned to look at the lights he’d mentioned and frowned. “They are, but how did you know that?”

“I can see in colour again,” Sousa explained, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

“But that means… Daisy… they must’ve brought her back,” Yo-Yo replied.

Sousa leant his head back against the wall and let out a relieved laugh. “She’s okay. Daisy’s okay.”

***

The first thing she noticed when she came to was the feeling of someone holding her hand, their fingers rubbing her bruised knuckles. The second was the sore feeling in every muscle in her body. She let out a pained groan as she opened her eyes.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re okay,” she heard someone say. The voice sounded familiar but the ringing in her ears made it sound distorted.

She looked in the direction the voice had come from and was able to get her eyes to focus on the person talking to her. She smiled weekly when she realised who it was. “Daniel.”

Sousa returned her smile. “Hey you, you had us worried for a moment there.”

“How did I get here?” Daisy asked. “I remember waking up on the Zephyr, but I don’t remember much after that.”

“You passed out not long after,” he explained. “Kora used her powers to keep you stable until the Zephyr got back to the Lighthouse. We moved you into the healing chamber, you were in there for two days. Simmons had us move you out about two hours ago, said you’d wake up on your own soon.” He lifted her hand that he was still holding, bringing it up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. “God, Daisy, I was so worried.”

“I’m fine, they were able to get me before anything too bad happened,” Daisy replied. A worried look passed over Sousa’s face. “Daniel, what happened? And don’t tell me that something didn’t happen because I saw that look on your face. Something happened, didn’t it?”

Sousa nodded. “You died,” he confessed. “Kora was able to revive you, but you were dead for two minutes. It was… terrifying.”

Daisy’s heart sank as she realised what had happened. “Daniel. I’m so sorry that must’ve been awful.”

“It was,” he replied. “But the relief I felt when I could see in colour again, I haven’t felt like that since we first met. Or since you kissed me back.”

“Daniel, I mean it, I’m sorry that happened to you, that you had to go through that,” Daisy repeated. “Believe me, I know what that’s like, I’m sorry I put you in that position.”

“What do you mean you know what it’s like?”

“The time loops,” she confessed. “You died saving my life so that I wouldn’t lose my memory when the time loop reset. It was one of the worst to have ever happened to me, but as soon as I opened my eyes when the time loop reset, I could see in colour again. It was… I hated it. I’m sorry that you had to go through that.”

“We’re both okay now,” Sousa replied. “Did anything else happen in the time loops?”

Daisy glared at him. “What did Mack say?” she demanded.

“He didn’t, I was just wondering.”

“We… we kinda kissed,” Daisy answered sheepishly.

“So, that wasn’t our first kiss, back on the Zephyr?” he asked. Daisy shook her head. “And I don’t remember our first kiss?”

“I wouldn’t say no to a few more to make up for it,” Daisy said, a cheeky grin on her face.

Sousa resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he smiled at Daisy. “I think I can manage that,” he replied before standing from the chair and leaning over to gently press a kiss to Daisy’s lips.

***

Once Simmons had given Daisy the all clear, Sousa helped her out the med bay and to her bunk. He carefully lowered her to the bed before passing her a change of clothes. “Do you need any help?”

Daisy shook her head. “Can you just grab my hairbrush from the bathroom?” she asked. Sousa nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before heading into the small, attached bathroom. She waited until he’d left the room before she started to slowly change. She started to remove her t-shirt but her still sore muscles made it hard to move her arms above her head. After a couple of moments, she heard Sousa knock at the door from the bathroom.

“You changed?”

“I think I need a bit of help after all,” Daisy replied. She winced as Sousa helped her pull the t-shirt over the top of her head. “Thanks.” She noticed him look away as she dumped the t-shirt on the bed. “Daniel, I get that you’re trying to respect my privacy, but I still need some help. Please.”

“Okay,” Sousa replied as he turned around and helped her into the hoodie he’d grabbed for her. Once he’d helped her change into the pair of sweats she sat back down on the bed and grabbed her hairbrush from where Sousa had placed it on the bed. Sousa watched her as she struggled to lift the brush to her hair. “Do you want some help?”

Daisy nodded and handed him the brush as he sat down behind her. She let out a contented sigh at the feeling of her hair being brush and leant back against Sousa.

“You know it’s pretty hard to brush your hair when you’re lying like that,” Sousa said.

“Yeah, but it’s comfy,” she replied as she tilted her head up to look at him. Sousa leant down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, Daisy grinning into the kiss. They pulled apart and Daisy moved her head so that Sousa could continue brushing her hair. She spotted something on the chair in the corner of the room. “Whose bag is that?”

“I think that’s mine,” he answered.

“Have you been sleeping in my bunk?” Daisy asked.

“I thought Yo-Yo put it in a spare bunk, I didn’t realise she’d brought to your bunk,” he replied.

Daisy turned around to look at him. “If you didn’t even know what bunk your bag was in, where’ve you been sleeping for the last two days.” She studied the look on his face when he didn’t respond. “Daniel, tell me that you didn’t sleep in a chair in the med lab while I was in the healing chamber.”

“I’d already lost you once Daisy, I couldn’t stand the thought of it happening again,” he said. He reached between the two of them and clasped her hands tightly in his own, giving them a reassuring squeeze before continuing. “When you first went in the chamber, there were times when my ability to see colour started to go. It didn’t ever go completely, just became more washed out, not as bright. I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you, I don’t think I would’ve been able to do anything, but I couldn’t just leave you.”

Daisy blushed slightly. “And the others didn’t say anything?”

“They did, but they gave up pretty quickly,” Sousa replied. “They seemed to accept the fact that I was staying with you. Especially considering the whole soulmate situation.”

“Do they all know?” Daisy asked. “I told Mack and Simmons figured it out, but I don’t know about everyone else.”

“Simmons said something that made Yo-Yo and Fitz figure it out,” Sousa explained. “I don’t know how they found out, but I’m pretty sure Coulson, May and Kora know as well. I think a few other people may have figured it out, but I don’t really know anyone else here yet.”

“They’re all still here?”

“Of course they are,” he answered. “They wouldn’t leave without seeing you first.”

“Yeah, but they’re still going to leave,” Daisy replied.

“I’m not going to leave,” Sousa promised.

Daisy nodded. “I know, it’s just… I’m going to miss them.”

“I know.”

Daisy smiled at him and leant in to kiss him. “Thank you,” she said as she pulled back from him.

“For what?”

“Just for being here, through all of this, through everything.”

“You don’t have to thank me for this,” Sousa replied. “You deserve to have someone there-”

“To pick me back when I run into a wall,” Daisy finished. Sousa frowned at her. “Time loops.”

“You’re going to have to tell me everything that happened in the time loops one day,” Sousa said. “Do you want to go see everyone else?”

Daisy nodded and allowed Sousa to pull her to her feet. He took a step back, just out of Daisy’s reach, and waited for her to follow him. Daisy started to take a step towards him, but her legs began to give way underneath her. Sousa stepped forward and caught her before she fell.

“You okay?” he asked. “Do you need to sit back down?”

Daisy shook her head. “I really need to see them, it’s just… I just need a bit of help.”

Sousa nodded and wrapped one arm around her waist, taking the majority of her weight as they made their way to the common room.

May was the first to notice Daisy and Sousa enter the room. She instantly left her conversation with Coulson and crossed the room, wrapping her arms around Daisy in a tight hug. Daisy was quick to return the hug, smiling as she buried her face into the crook of May’s neck. May looked like she was trying not to cry as they pulled apart.

“Please don’t cry,” Daisy begged. “Because if you start crying, then I’m gonna start crying.”

“I’m not making any promises,” May replied just as Coulson reached them.

“Hey you,” he said as he reached over and hugged Daisy. “I’m so glad to see you’re okay.”

Daisy looked around as they pulled apart, realising that Sousa wasn’t stood behind her anymore. She smiled softly when she realised he had been dragged away by a small girl with blonde hair to look at something on the other side of the room.

“Is that?”

“Alya,” Coulson answered. “She’s got everyone on base wrapped around her little finger already. She kept coming to see you when you were in the healing chamber, she said she wanted to make sure her Auntie Daisy was doing okay.”

Daisy’s heart melted at ‘Auntie Daisy’ as she turned back to look at Sousa and Alya. “He’s good with her.”

“I heard he’s a pretty good soulmate as well,” Coulson replied as casually as possible.

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Did Yo-Yo tell you?”

He shook his head. “Overheard Sousa talking to you while you were in the healing chamber, he may have mentioned it a couple of times.” He chuckled slightly when he saw Daisy blush. “I’m really happy for the two of you.”

“Thanks,” Daisy replied. “You’re being weirdly calm about this.”

“Why wouldn’t I be calm?”

“My soulmate is one of your S.H.I.E.L.D. heroes, I thought you’d be a little more excited about this.”

“Okay, I am pretty excited,” Coulson admitted. “It’s just that he’s Daniel Sousa, _the Daniel Sousa._ I’ll stop, promise.”

“You better,” Daisy replied. She let out a tired sigh, resting her hand on the wall.

“You good? Do you need to sit down?” Coulson asked.

Daisy nodded and allowed Coulson to help her sit down. Sousa spotted her sit down and made his way back over to her, Alya trailing after him. She grinned up at him as he sat down next to her, pressing a kiss on the top of her head. Daisy grinned and leant into his side, her heart fluttering when he wrapped one arm around her.

Alya smiled at her as she stood in front of the couple. “Auntie Daisy?”

Daisy grinned at the small girl. “That’s me.”

Simmons swooped in when she realised her daughter was with Daisy and Sousa. “Alya, remember what I said?”

The little girl let out a sigh with a level of drama only a small child could muster. “Yes, you said to be careful with Auntie Daisy because she got hurt.”

“Simmons, it’s fine,” Daisy replied. “I’m fine, you guys don’t need to worry about me.”

“No, she’s right,” Simmons said. “Daisy, just because you’re out of the healing chamber doesn’t mean that you’re back to full strength. Just let us take of you for once.”

Daisy nodded, her eyes briefly fluttering over to where Sousa was sat next to her. “Okay, I think I can manage that. But just this once, okay?”

Sousa and Simmons exchanged a smile, both clearly happy that Daisy had agreed.

“We can work with that,” Simmons said.

***

As everyone else began to turn in for the night, Sousa helped Daisy up from the sofa and back towards her bunk. He looked across the hall as they reached her bunk.

“Do you know if anyone’s using that bunk?” he asked.

“I don’t think so, why’d you ask?”

“I just wanted to stay near you, just in case anything happened,” he answered.

“Well, my bunk is even closer by,” she suggested. “I mean, the bed isn’t that big, but there’s enough space for two.”

“Okay.”

Daisy cocked her head to one side, a small smirk on her face. “That was easier than I thought it would be.”

“What do you mean?” Sousa asked.

“Didn’t think that it would be that easy to get the Mr Boy Scout here into my bed,” Daisy teased, leaning in against him as she looked up at him. “Although, I do remember you saying that you were the bad boys of the boy scouts.”

“What are you trying to suggest Agent Johnson?”

Daisy didn’t respond, just leant up and kissed him softly. She was grinning as they pulled apart. “I’m really happy that you’re my soulmate.”

“Me too.”

**Author's Note:**

> It was so hard to remember to write Skye instead of Daisy in that first part. I was also googling the history of black and white films at one in the morning to make sure the first scene worked. I used transcripts for various episodes to get the dialogue right but realised halfway through the take a loop scene that I could do it from memory because of the amount of times I’ve watched it on YouTube lmao.


End file.
